By The Numbers
Expatriate voting rights
It is really heartening that the Election Commission (EC) has initiated a move to include the expatriate Bangladeshis in the electoral roll to provide them with the opportunity of casting vote for their chosen candidates from abroad. The EC has already reviewed the concerned laws and decided to make some amendments in the Representation of the People Order 1972 for this purpose.
Meanwhile, the EC has initiated of holding dialogues with expatriate Bangladeshis residing in UK to assess the possibility of enrolling them as voters. Two election commissioners are expected to participate in the dialogues, scheduled to be held in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh in the second week of November. These dialogues will be held under the supervision of the Bangladesh High Commission in UK.
Initially the EC will hold the dialogues in UK as the highest number of Bangladeshi expatriates live there. The EC will next discuss the ways to enroll the expatriates living in other countries. It is estimated that more than four million Bangladeshi expatriates are presently living in UK and other countries.
A powerful lobbying group of the Bangladeshi expatriates have been demanding for inclusion of their names in the electoral roll for a long time enabling them to exercise their voting right. An eight-member delegation of expatriates from the Middle East countries also recently met the CEC and expressed their desire to be enrolled as voters.
The Bangladeshi expatriates also launched a movement for their voting rights before holding the 2001 parliamentary election. M. A. Sayed, the then CEC took up the issue of making them voters. But he had to abandon the project citing some complications.
In the age of globalisation, the expatriate voting right exists in many countries across the world. Expatriate voting rights have also been introduced in many countries with a view to gain party political advantage.
All the members of European Union (EU) except Britain have written constitutions that stipulate, directly or by reference to specific laws, the voting rights of their citizens. Thus citizens cannot be deprived of their inalienable rights without either constitutional legislation passed by a large majority, referendums or even elections.
Most of the European countries, especially the EU members, have given their expatriates voting rights of unlimited duration. Denmark has given a five-year limit and Germany a 25-year limit for their nationals living outside Europe. Britain provided a 20-year limit which has been reduced to 15 years later on. The British expatriates are now campaigning to have voting right regardless of the length of time they have lived abroad.
The concerned minister has sent recently the draft bill laying down the groundwork for the voting rights to Greek citizens living abroad. Expatriate Greeks will be granted voting rights, provided they are registered to the electoral rolls.
In addition to voting for their representatives in Paris, the French expatriates elect a High Council of French citizens resident abroad. This body, which regularly meets government officials, elects 12 senators to look after expatriates' interests. France really values its expatriates.
The British citizens who live outside the United Kingdom can vote in UK and European parliamentary elections (but not local elections), provided they have lived in the UK within the last fifteen years and they can provide a British citizen also living outside the UK, who is not a close relative, to witness their application form.
British citizens are registered to vote in the constituency in which they were registered when last living in the UK, or, for those too young to have registered when they left the UK, in the constituency where their parents or guardian were registered.
There are at least 650,000 British citizens residing in EU countries, and 840,000 expatriates worldwide who receive UK pensions. There are 26,000 expatriates in the Gulf states alone. Those registered may vote either in person, by proxy or by post.
Expatriate voting is very common within the Europe. It is especially important for a country like Bangladesh where the number of expatriates is in the millions. But assessing the actual number and location of the expatriates worldwide is really a big problem, as they usually do not register their names with the Bangladesh consulates abroad.
On the other hand, most of the expatriates have no idea of their voting rights while living abroad. A poster explaining the modalities by which the expatriates will be made voters and which will answer the questions expatriates ask about voting, should be prepared and publicised widely. The EC should launch a web site exclusively for the expatriates' information from which one can download the poster, the voter registration form and obtain other information.
Bangladesh has two types of expatriates -- one who are staying abroad temporarily and the other who are living permanently, having dual citizenship. There is a third type, who have become citizens of other countries surrendering Bangladeshi citizenship. Obviously, this type of Bangladeshis does not come within the purview of expatriate voting rights.
There are expatriates holding dual citizenship and consequently able to vote in the host country. It is hard then to argue that their political participation in the home country is necessary either to secure their democratic rights or to ensure their democratic inclusiveness in a home polity which has seen a great deal of emigration.
Obviously there are various principles that could be applied while deciding whether the expatriates would be allowed to exercise their right of franchise. The EC could also follow the procedures of other countries in setting up the rules.
The expatriate Bangladeshi community is deprived of their constitutional right to vote as we do not have any provision to include them in the national electoral roll. The expatriate voting right is, of course, a global phenomenon and is not a difficult exercise. Therefore, it is quite undemocratic to disfranchise such a large number of citizens in the plea that they are expatriates.
The money remitted by the expatriates is a prominent source of foreign currency for Bangladesh, second only to the garment industry. Their contribution to the economic development of the country is undeniable. It is therefore proper for the country to do something in return for them and that can be done by providing them with voting rights.
The EC really deserves thank for floating the idea of providing the expatriates with their long-denied voting rights. We urge it not to abandon the idea as it was done in the 2001 election. Providing voting rights to expatriates will certainly reflect the caring attitude of this interim government towards the expatriates, whose contribution to the economy is a crucial necessity.
ANM Nurul Haque is a columnist of The Daily Star.
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